PIERRE, S.D. — A woman has been sentenced to federal prison for her part in a Mexican cartel’s criminal conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine in South Dakota on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and in Rapid City.
Casey Lopez, age 51, Chadron, NE, was sentenced to serve 20 years, followed by five years of supervised release, by U.S. District Judge Karen Schreier. A federal grand jury indicted Lopez in February 2024 and she pleaded guilty on January 17, 2025.
According to a statement from U.S. Attorney for South Dakota Allison Ramsdell, “Lopez and others distributed significant amounts of methamphetamine in Pine Ridge and Rapid City.”
Ramsdell described Lopez as “a leader in the conspiracy, setting prices, organizing the distribution, and enabling a Mexican cartel to gain inroads into the Pine Ridge Reservation.”
Former South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem in a Jan. 31, 2024, speech to state lawmakers claimed that Mexican drug cartels were operating on tribal reservations within the state. She subsequently was banned from all nine reservations by their tribal governments.
Noem resigned as governor in January, after the U.S. Senate confirmed her as the new federal Homeland Security secretary in the Trump administration. This week, Mexico’s president struck back at ads Secretary Noem has been running that warn migrants not to enter the U.S. illegally, according to CNN.
During the April 21 sentencing of Lopez, according to U.S. Attorney Ramsdell, “Judge Schreier denounced how Lopez’ actions severely damaged the community. Judge Schreier also noted the drugs Lopez was distributing came from Mexican cartels and constituted 100% pure methamphetamine.”
Lopez was immediately remanded to federal custody.
